June 2006

Charlotte and Will's visit to Percy was as uneventful as Kiara had hoped. The two children had hounded her the whole day until 'later' became now. Kiara took them to check on him after making them promise to behave. Will had raced back to their cabin to grab his personal medic bag. The three of them sent Annabeth off to dinner. The stubborn girl had stayed there the whole day, only leaving when they evicted her from the room. As she left, Kiara heard mumbles about quests and the gods. Kiara made a mental note to check up on the stressed girl when she had time.

"Kiki," Will called, pulling on her arm, "can I look at him now?"

Kiara reminded him that Percy was injured before letting him go. The nine-year-old raced over to the chair by the bed and looked at Kiara's patient.

"Are you sure he isn't dead?" Charlotte asked, poking his leg.

"Don't do that, Lottie." Will pushed her hand away. "Kiki told us he hit his head. That's why he's unconscious. He needs to recuperate before he wakes up." Will's face was serious as he pulled open his bag.

Kiara tried hiding her smile as Will pulled out rainbow bandages and stickers. Charlotte scrambled over next to Will and held out a hand. Will let out a put upon sigh and handed over a few to their sister. Will peeled off the backing of one of the stickers. Kiara felt a warm feeling fill her as she watched her younger siblings carefully work on Percy.

Kiara supervised them for a while, making sure their earnest efforts didn't do more harm. Percy's wrappings on his shoulder slowly became stained with color as Will and Charlotte pasted multitudes of stickers across every available space. Kiara left them alone as she worked on restocking the infirmary. They all worked in silence, diligently going about their predetermined jobs. The only noise was the shuffle of cloth and the exhalation of breath.

They worked for an hour, until Kiara finished up resupplying and the others were too bored to carry on. Kiara held back a laugh at the colorful bandages Percy was now sporting and the proud faces of her younger siblings. She urged them to clean up their mess before she released them. Then they were off, racing down the hall. Kiara watched them go, picking up any stray backings they had missed.

"You released the hellions?" Luke asked, entering the room.

Kiara shook her head at him. "They deserved a break. They'd been helping out for a while."

Luke gave a little laugh when she told him they were helping. Kiara could not blame him. Their earnest efforts sometimes caused more drama than necessary.

Luke walked over to Percy's bedside. "How is he?"

"Getting better. He'll be up soon." Kiara pulled a sticker out of his hair. "He got pretty banged up."

The two of them watched him. His breathing was even; at this point, he was just sleeping. Kiara felt some weight lift off her chest at his healing body. This boy would make it.

"Do you know who his parent is?" Luke crossed his arms, turning towards her.

"No." Kiara winced at Luke's pained sigh. "Grover doesn't know, and if Chiron does, he won't tell me."

"I'll clear out some space." He fell into a chair.

Kiara was reminded of how young he was. Nineteen and in charge of more than thirty kids. He should be out celebrating graduating from high school and looking for college, not living in a summer camp year-round. He was one of the oldest left at camp, the rest off to try to live in the real world. She did not know what he would do if Chiron told him he had to leave. They were all young. Too young. Kiara felt her hands shake at the unfairness of it all. The gods abandoned them to this life, and they had to make the best of it.

– o –

Two days after the mysterious boy stumbled into camp, people started growing antsy. The clouds, which had been threatening them since December, grew darker. They waited on the edge of camp like tigers, ready to pounce. The campfire barely toasted the marshmallows stuck right over the flame; not even Sofia's mocking songs brought up the crowd's spirit. They all knew something was coming. The volleyball court was empty, and the amphitheater was quiet. It was as if the whole camp was holding its breath. The dramatic appearance of Percy and the secrets surrounding him gave them something to focus on.

Someone talked to Grover, and the rumors spiraled. In the last few hours, Kiara heard that he was a god that was cast out like her father years ago, or that he was going to start a prophecy, or that he had beaten a whole horde of monsters before he made it to camp. She was vaguely amazed at their rumor mill. Give them a few days, and they could convince everyone that the world was flat and the sky was pink.

Kiara ran to the forge with a smile. She needed Beckendorf's help to fix her bow. Daniel, an eight-year-old son of Hermes, had stolen it during the last archery lesson and messed up something. She had no idea how the kid had done it. None of her siblings could figure out what he had done. You would think a bow would be easy to see how to fix it but the ever ingenious child of Hermes proved them wrong.

"Hi Beckendorf, Nyssa." Kiara waved meaninglessly at the busy teens.

Beckendorf let out a welcoming grunt, but otherwise her presence went unnoticed. The two of them were working on a new machine. Kiara could not say anything other than that it involved a lot of metal and trips to her cabin. Beckendorf had told her many times before what it was, but Kiara never truly understood what he was talking about. Deciding to wait until they had free time, she left her bow on one of their work tables. Kiara watched, fascinated, as Nyssa pulled a glowing piece of celestial bronze out of the furnace. She set it on one of their anvils and started hammering it. They would need some time until they were free to help her. Kiara moved out of the busy side of the forge to the free space they set aside as far from the furnace and tools.

The temperature of the room dropped rapidly a few feet away from the fire. A baby blanket was spread out on the floor, covered in toys and tools. A plastic guardrail stopped the current prisoner from escaping. Kiara climbed over, smirking at the offended noise at her easy conquer of his insurmountable wall.

"Harley!" Kiara scooped up the squealing baby. The little boy squirmed in her arms until he freed his hands. He started blabbing excitedly while waving his arms around. Kiara barely dodged a fist, making it into her eye as he talked to her.

"Hi Teenie. How was your day? I haven't seen you since yesterday." Kiara sat down in his area as she listened to his baby talk.

Harley grew distracted by a toy, his noises trailing off into mumbles, having seemingly forgotten Kiara's presence. Fine with being ignored by the toddler, she looked around his space.

It was not that she did not trust Beckendorf to make sure Harley was safe, but the focused fourteen-year-old sometimes forgot basic needs, like eating, drinking, and keeping rusty tools away from curious kids. Harley was especially mischievous, snatching and hiding different tools he was not supposed to be around. From what she could see, Harley had only succeeded in stealing a dull screwdriver. Kiara quietly picked it up and placed it on a counter high enough for Harley to struggle to get it back.

"Kiara?"

She looked up at the towering boy and stood to give him a hug. Even though she was two years older, she only met his shoulder.

"Beckendorf. How's that cut?" Kiara pulled away and tried to look at his arm.

"It's fine." He pulled it away from her prying hands. "You fixed me up. No problems."

"Just let me check it-"

Harley let out a loud and annoyed noise. Kiara and Beckendorf both froze. That noise was the precursor to a meltdown. Kiara swooped down and picked up the fussy baby.

Realizing Beckendorf would not give in, Kiara changed the subject. "I was wondering if you could take a look at my bow. Danny did something to it and none of us know how to fix it."

Beckendorf laughed. "What could the kid do that messed it up so bad?" He picked up her bow and looked at it. "I'll fix it up by tonight. I'll bring it to you at the campfire."

"Thank you," Kiara cried, throwing her free arm around him in some semblance of a hug.

"Could you take Harley to Bryan? He said he could watch him around noon."

Kiara nodded and showed her thanks one more time before leaving with a squirming child.

-o-

Kiara repositioned Harley against her hip; his wiggling had almost caused him to slip out of her grasp. She pushed open the door to Cabin Seven and was greeted with a series of welcomes from her siblings still inside. Most of the campers were out doing activities but some were hiding from the summer heat. Bryan Al Ameen was one of those campers. The tall Egyptian boy was lying on his bed reading a book in greek. As the son of Leto, he was the most naturally capable person to look after the children of camp. He was amazing at it, getting even the most difficult to listen to him when the rest of them were running around like headless chickens. He was almost always seen with a small child shadowing him, but it seemed right now he was by himself. Kiara felt guilty for disturbing his peace, and tried to leave but her movement caught his eye and the energetic boy sat up and beckoned her towards him.

"Bryan," Harley yelled into Kiara's ear loud enough that even Bryan winced.

"Hey, Harley." He reached out his arms for the child and Kiara conceded.

She sat on the bed opposite from them and watched as Harley lit up in the presence of his favorite person. There was no competition. The moment Harley saw Bryan there was no hope for anyone else. Bryan felt the same way. He loved all the kids but the two of them had stumbled through the borders together. Bryan had found Harley and they had been connected ever since. The little boy had to stay in his own cabin, the rules were being bent to even let Bryan stay much less a boy who was not related to Apollo in the cabin. The two of them were satisfied with seeing each other daily.

"He hasn't taken his nap yet," Bryan muttered, curling an arm around him and balancing Harley on his stomach.

Kiara stifled a laugh at the focused boy. "I'll leave you to it. I have to head over to the infirmary and check on Percy."

Bryan gave her a nod, eyes still trained on Harley. "Good luck."

-o-

Dionysus barely looked up from his magazine, "Clara-"

"Kiara, sir," she interrupted

"Yes, Cynthia. Tell me about the feeling you've had recently."

"I-" Kiara jolted, worried about how he knew. She had never told anyone. She smoothed her finger on the beads on her necklace. "I don't know what you mean, sir."

"Don't play coy. I know. I know you've had them again."

Kiara's heart stopped. There would be no way to hide it from him. She looked out over the camp, trying to stall.

"Your sons are doing very well in arche-"

"Now, Cloé." He did not look up from his page, but Kiara could feel the threat.

"It's nothing really; I'm just feeling kind of off. Not that bad, though. Probably nothing to worry about. I'm sure it will just blow over. Maybe it'll be like when Will got here?"

Dionysus twitched at that, and Kiara knew she said something wrong.

"What do you think of that half-blood in the infirmary?"

"I don't have that much to say about Percy. I haven't spoken to him yet, so there is no point for me to create an opinion on him." Mr. D was hiding something. He was flipping through his magazine, attentive to every word she said. "Is there a reason you are asking, Mr. D?"

For the first time in their conversation, he closed his magazine. He placed it on his lap with practiced movements. He raised his eyes to meet her own. Insanity and madness reached out to her, and she was reminded that even though he looked like someone's drunk uncle, it was all a facade. This puppet in front of her was not the full scope of a god who had existed for centuries. His energy existed before people knew to fear insanity. Before Dionysus. Before even the flicker of the gods. Before, there was anything.

It existed without a name before it solidified into Dionysus, like all the other gods. The god was just a small representation, the only one they would ever interact with. This god was able to reduce her to ash with a thought. He was the wielder of madness. He could appear as anything and anyone. This shell was just for their comfort, and the moment he stopped holding himself back for their sake, everything would change. The personification of the very thing people had feared since the beginning of time was not something to mess with. Dionysus would overlook snark and backtalk, but questioning him would not pass.

"A god does not need to explain himself to mortals. You would do well to learn that, Kiara Hope."

She let out a shaky breath, still unable to pull her eyes away. "Yes, sir."

"Run along. I have more important things to do than listen to a half-blood yap all day."

His eyes flicked back down to the magazine, and Kiara felt the hold they had on her slip away. Her legs trembled as she stood up. Dionysus went back to looking like some random uncle. The dangerous aura that froze her solid was neatly tucked behind the loud Hawaiian shirt, and the fiery glare dimmed. His flippant movements did not make Kiara forget. She knew there was nothing different about the god; she still felt the oppressive presence flowing out of him. His eyes flicked up at her one last time, like he was confused as to why she was still there. Kiara bowed, trying to hide her shaky hands. She stumbled into the hall without turning back.

-o-

Kiara slumped against the door, trying to slow her racing heart. She breathed deeply, pushing the disaster away. She clenched the strap of her bag in a white, knuckled grip. She had learned her lesson, and not for the first time either. It would not be the last time she challenged a god too far. Her spiraling thoughts were getting her nowhere, and she had a job to do. After another second, Kiara pulled herself together.

Her footsteps were soft on the carpet as she made her way through the Big House. Muffled music came from Chiron's room, and Kiara steered far away from that door. She just survived one god; she would not make it through Chiron's music. Her soul would up and leave her body if she subjected herself to that.

Voices reached Kiara's ears as she knocked on the door. No one was supposed to be conscious, much less speak there. She pulled the door open to see Annabeth shove a spoonful of ambrosia into Percy's mouth.

"What are you doing?" Kiara pulled the spoon away from her and checked over the boy. "What were you talking about, Annabeth?"

"Nothing-but he woke up for a bit. Isn't that good?" she redirected.

Kiara wanted to protest the change in subject, but with a look at the girl's guilty face, she let it slide. "It is. Hopefully, he will fully wake up later today. You should go to the amphitheater. Your cabin is starting training now. If you run now, you won't be late."

"Fine." Annabeth stood up but looked back at Percy. "Tell me if he wakes up?"

"Yes, hurry."

The younger girl dashed out of the room, narrowly dodging past Argus by the door. Kiara waved at the man as he waited over by the foot of the bed.

Argus' eyes scanned over Percy as he signed, "How is he doing?"

"Annabeth said he just woke up. I think he will fully wake up in a few hours." Kiara asked, her hands following along with her speech.

The two of them looked at the sleeping boy for a few minutes. He was not that interesting—at least not for Kiara to watch for the possible hours it took to have him wake up.

"Argus." Kiara waved her hand to catch his attention. "Have you checked him over? I'm pretty sure he's fine, but an extra look over wouldn't do any harm."

Argus shook his head, giving a rueful smile. "I checked this morning after I got back."

"How was it up there?"

"Something is going on. Hera was distraught; she would not sit down for more than a second before pacing again. Even with all of us there, she did not stop her pacing. Hebe looked close to tears. Enyo and Ares weren't helping at all. Nothing was working. She's keeping something from us." He let out a huff of air. "She cut our time short as well. I cannot remember the last time that happened."

"Surely things aren't too bad. Nothing has happened in the mortal world."

"You cannot say nothing—the storms. I am not sure who is controlling them, but they are not natural."

Kiara fiddled with her necklace, thinking back to the last few weeks. He was right. She just did not want to believe it. Compounding the unnerving feeling, she knew something was going to happen.

"Don't you have homework?" Argus motioned to the bag by her feet.

Kiara reluctantly agreed with him and settled onto one of the other beds. He sat in a chair by Percy, watching for any signs of consciousness. Kiara leaned her Herbology book against her bent legs. Might as well get the worst part out of the way.

-o-

Percy woke fitfully, an hour later. Argus decided they should bring him outside so someone could keep an eye on him as he got nearer to waking. Kiara needed to do one last healing hymn on the boy. That one had to be done in the sun's rays so Kiara was not against moving him. Carefully Kiara helped transfer Percy's small but lanky body into Argus' arms. They made their way to the deck, Kiara holding the doors for Argus and his sleeping passenger.

Argus reasoned that he should watch him while Kiara notified Mr. D and Chiron. Kiara glared at him as she walked away. She put no effort into hiding her displeasure, storming around the porch to where the leaders of the camp were waiting. Her earlier interaction with Mr. D was still in her mind and she would rather avoid the god until he forgot about her existence than update him on the status of a camper he was strangely angry at.

She had left Argus and Percy at the back porch overlooking the strawberry fields and made her way back to where she had last seen Mr. D Before he had been sitting on a throne like chair in the shade but at some point in the hour Chiron had joined him and a table appeared between them. Chiron was still in his wheelchair. Kiara had to hold herself back from lecturing the millenia old centaur about the necessity of blood circulation.

"Mr. D, Chiron," Kiara greeted. "The new camper, Percy, is going to wake up soon. His injuries have all healed up. I need to check on him one more time once he is awake before I can discharge him."

Mr. D did not even look up from his cards.

Chiron on the other hand gave her a slight nod. "That is wonderful news. Annabeth, can you collect Grover to watch over Percy?"

A slight shimmer came from the side of Kiara and a frustrated Annabeth appeared, holding her Yankees hat in clenched fingers. Without a word she stomped away towards the strawberry fields. Kiara watched, still recovering from Annabeth's sudden appearance, before turning to Chiron expectantly.

"Is this about the prophecy? The one Annabeth is a part of?"

Chiron looked away from her, over the camp. "One can never be sure of prophecies until they are completed."

Kiara knew more than anyone about that. The prophecies that governed their lives as half bloods were intertwined into her very being. Between herself and her siblings, their father's domains picked and chose who received a connection with them. Some of them were lucky and their connection was more of a gift, like Michael's healing and Eleni's archery. Kiara felt like hers was more of a curse. Her premonitions never brought anything good and her healing would never save everyone.

"Best not to worry about it now, Kiara," Chiron added, pulling Kiara from her spiral.

"Yes."

Kiara was not sure what to do with herself. Chiron seemed satisfied with sitting there but an incessant buzz filled her. She raised her hand to mess with her necklace before realizing what she was doing and slowly lowering it.

The action caught the attention of Mr. D "Don't just stand there. If you're going to wait, at least set up for our pinochle game."

"But-"

"Four players, Catherine."

-o-

They waited for Percy to wake in silence—mostly. Kiara leaned against the railing, fingers twitching by her neck. The notes of a song were sitting on her tongue and the longer it went the more insistent the music. She watched as Annabeth grew more and more bored before Kiara tuned out the tapping of her foot. Chiron shifted through a sheaf of paper, the rustling drawing Kiara's attention once more. She watched as he flicked through the pages occasionally humming at something he read. The hum dug into her brain filling the space until the next noise caught her. A sudden yell from the arena made her flinch to the knife at her side. She stopped herself before she pulled it out but the heads of those present turned to her questioningly. She sheepishly waved them off, not able to disrupt the tiny bit of quiet that had fallen at her movement. Kiara tipped her head back to look at the sky, the wind rustling in her ears. The sounds of camp filtered in and out as she focused on the breeze. It drew at the wisps that had fallen out of her bun and stroked her cheek.

The noise of uneven footsteps shook Kiara from her daze. She leaned out of the sun and back under the porch roof to see Grover, fake legs thudding unnaturally, and Percy clutching a shoebox close to his chest. Percy still looked a little too wobbly for Kiara's liking. Despite his efforts to hide his shaky hands, Kiara's eyes caught the motion. She relaxed her pose as much as possible to settle the nervous demigod. He might not have known where his instincts came from but Kiara could bet he felt like running for the hills, especially with Annabeth's scrutinizing gaze. She looked at Percy like a rather frustrating puzzle, maybe one of the mechanical puzzles the Hephaestus cabin made.

Percy's call of "Mr. Brunner" caused Chiron to turn and beckon the two closer.

"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."

Percy complied with the request, albeit hesitantly. He sat on the very edge of his seat, as far from Mr. D as possible.

"Welcome to Camp Half-blood," Mr. D said in a monotone, eyes skimming his cards. "Congrats, don't expect anything else. If I'm lucky you'll be gone before the end of the summer."

Percy's jaw went slack at the causal dismissal of his life. He turned to look at the others around him. Kiara gave him a sympathetic look. On a good day, Mr. D was too much for new campers. And that day was not a good one. Even Chiron winced at the remark.

"Thank you?" Percy's voice faltered.

Chiron looked back at Annabeth and beckoned her forward. "Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."

Kiara pursed her lips. There was no way this boy was going to get a bed in that cabin. A camping bag might be the best Luke could acquire for him.

Annabeth stared at Percy intently before blurting out, "You drool when you sleep."

Her face darkened before she darted off.

"Excuse me, Chiron." Kiara pushed herself off from the railing, towards the table. "I need to do one last check on Percy before heading off."

"Ah, right. I knew I was forgetting something."

Kiara stood by Percy's chair, looking him up and down for any obvious lingering pain. He seemed to be keeping pressure off his right leg.

"Hello, I am Kiara. I was the one who set your injuries and checked up on you during your stay at the infirmary. I just need to do a quick check to make sure you're all ready to be up and moving. Is that okay?"

Percy nodded, eyes wary as Kiara poked and prodded his leg for any pain. "How does it feel?"

"Tender." Percy's leg jolted at one particular spot.

"Your leg seems to have healed well but some bruises might still linger. After you finish up here I'll get you some bruise cream." She moved to his back. "Does your shoulder feel alright? Any stiffness or numbness?"

"No."

Kiara stepped back. "I'll get you that cream and meet you at cabin eleven. It's the-"

Mr. D interrupted. "Go Kylie. It sounded like someone fell off the wall."

Kiara stiffened. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "As you command."

She gave one last smile to Percy. "It was nice to finally meet you."

"Um, yeah." Percy looked between Kiara and Mr. D. "See you later?"

IM BACK!

Sorry for the delay. I had a really busy summer and adjusting with school is crazy. I'm still writing it might just be slower. I've also worked at trying to make all my chapters longer(between 4,000-5,000) so that will also factor into my updates. Right now I might be able to update every other week.

Writing this has changed my opinion on the books a bit. When I started reading them as a middle schooler I completely thought Luke was crazy. I could not believe why anyone would follow him. As I've gotten older, I've found myself agreeing with his reasoning more and more(not his actions though). This might come through with Kiara... I don't know if I should feel sorry for that or not.

Anyway... Thank you everyone who has supported me through this. I've been amazed how many of you are putting this on your lists even when I wasn't writing. I hope I can keep going for all of you reading this.

If anyone has any questions about the fic I am always happy to you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a comment. Thanks for reading!

-Natalie!